(70 Power Stone Bonus)
Chapter 16: Tower of Heaven
Facing Erza's expression of gratitude, Ultear waved her hand to signal that she shouldn't pay it any mind.
"Haven't you guys already given me the highest reward possible?"
As she spoke, her gaze shifted toward Yumesaki. The gratitude and tenderness in her eyes were deep enough to melt into water. She truly hadn't expected that Yumesaki would actually revive her mother and send her back to her side. Although their initial reunion had been incredibly awkward, they had now successfully reconciled.
Therefore, toward Yumesaki's actions, Ultear felt immensely grateful. If not for that, she wouldn't have gathered information on Jose so wholeheartedly and forced the Magic Council to disband Phantom Lord.
Yumesaki looked at Ultear, whose eyes were filled with deep emotion, and couldn't help but think to himself, "If Ultear wants to develop a close relationship with me that goes beyond friendship, should I agree to it, or agree to it, or agree to it?"
However, the reality left Yumesaki's face full of disappointment. Up until the moment they left the Magic Council, Ultear didn't make any ambiguous moves. Toward him, it was purely genuine gratitude.
Damn it, I was overthinking things.
On the way back to the guild, Erza fell into a rare silence, lost in thought. Yumesaki was frustrated with himself and didn't pay much attention to her expression either.
Until...
"I've made up my mind."
"Huh? You've made up your mind? About what?" Yumesaki looked at Erza, who had suddenly stopped in her tracks. Caught off guard, he nearly bumped straight into her.
Erza ignored Yumesaki's lack of focus. She stopped walking and turned her head to look at him.
"I've decided to go to the Tower of Heaven."
"Oh."
Yumesaki thought about it for a moment. Eisenwald was dealt with, Galuna Island was over, and even Phantom Lord had been forcibly disbanded due to Ultear's intervention, causing the Phantom Lord invasion arc to end before it could even begin. Next in line was indeed the Tower of Heaven arc.
"So, do you plan on going alone?" Yumesaki asked out of curiosity.
Erza nodded, "Yes. This is my own personal matter, so I intend to settle it by myself."
With her current strength, clearing the Tower of Heaven alone really wouldn't pose any issue whatsoever.
Yumesaki said, "I think it's better if you discuss this with the Master first."
Erza hesitated for a brief moment, crossing her arms over her chest as if weighing her options, but in the end, she agreed.
After returning to the guild, Erza sought out the Master and expressed her intention to head to the Tower of Heaven alone. She repeatedly assured Master Makarov that with her current strength, she could clear the Tower of Heaven very quickly.
"Calm down, Erza."
Makarov firmly chided her, his gaze resting gently upon the young girl. "I don't doubt that you can clear the Tower of Heaven quickly by yourself. However, you are a part of Fairy Tail. Your business is our business."
"We are comrades. Do you want your comrades to watch you walk into trouble and just wash their hands of it?"
"If we did that, what kind of comrades would we be?"
"Erza."
Hearing Makarov's words, Erza's entire body trembled. She suddenly realized her mistake. She didn't want her friends to be in danger and wanted to handle the Tower of Heaven alone, but wasn't that also a form of arrogance? Since she had reliable comrades, why did she have to fight all by herself? Fighting alone might look cool, but it wasn't the right choice, because she was a member of a guild.
"I'm sorry, Master. I was wrong."
Recognizing her mistake, Erza immediately corrected her stance. She rushed to gather her friends and recounted the story of her childhood, as well as the matter regarding the Tower of Heaven that was still being built.
"Everyone, I am here to ask for your help. Please help me destroy the Tower of Heaven."
The moment those words left her mouth, the entire guild erupted into an uproar.
"Isn't that just a given, Erza?" Natsu suddenly leapt onto a table, fire spurting from his mouth. "I don't care who the enemy is. As long as they dare to bully our comrade, I'll beat every single one of them to a pulp!"
"That's right, count me in too," Gray said loudly, stripping off his shirt.
"A real man is supposed to protect his comrades!"
"Count me in, Erza."
"I'm going too."
Seeing her friends enthusiastically volunteering to accompany her to the Tower of Heaven, Erza felt both incredibly grateful and deeply moved.
Unfortunately, the Tower of Heaven was no walk in the park. In the end, Erza chose four people—Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Cana—to accompany her. Of course, Yumesaki was also among them.
Without Yumesaki, they would have needed to cross mountains and seas to reach the Tower of Heaven. But with Yumesaki there, traveling to the Tower of Heaven was a matter of a single blink.
Once Erza pointed out the location of the Tower of Heaven, Yumesaki utilized his Clairvoyance magic across the vast ocean, locking onto the coordinates of the structure. Raising his hand with a sharp thrust, the power of the Door-Door Fruit manifested, opening a passage.
The Tower of Heaven was right before their eyes.
Taking a deep breath, Erza led Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Cana through the door, stepping right into the Tower of Heaven. Yumesaki followed closely behind.
"Everyone, let's move."
Erza raised her head to look toward the peak of the tower, her gaze sharper than it had ever been before.
"I'm fired up! Now watch me blow these bastards away!" Natsu roared, taking the lead as he charged deeper into the tower.
Seeing this, Gray scoffed, "How could I let you show off all by yourself, Natsu?" He immediately sprinted ahead to catch up.
Lucy sighed, "Those two are really as hyper as ever."
Happy nodded, "Aye, they always are."
Cana laughed at the sight and turned to Erza, "Let's get moving too."
Erza nodded and followed after them.
Gray and Natsu could be said to be leading the charge. Along the way, as long as someone dared to block them, they were instantly beaten down. They didn't deal lethal blows, but they made sure to knock the opposition flat so they couldn't crawl back up. The two broke through the defenses with reckless abandon, moving through the area as if it were completely deserted.
During this period, it wasn't as if they didn't encounter any resistance from skilled mages.
A man caught up in a love triangle made his appearance.
Wally Buchanan.
One of Erza's childhood friends, and also one of the people deceived by Jellal. He was proficient in Block Magic, which allowed him to separate his body into various block segments, much like toy blocks. He could also move these blocks through space to launch surprise attacks on his opponents. Indeed, this ability was somewhat similar to the Chop-Chop Fruit used by Buggy the Clown in the world of One Piece.
As soon as this man appeared, he wasted no time using his Block Magic against Natsu and Gray.
"Don't think you can pass through here easily!"
"Get out of the way!"
"Beat it, you're nobody!"
Faced with the obstacle before them, Natsu and Gray didn't pay him any mind at all. Gray unleashed his Ice-Make magic, casually freezing a portion of the man's block segments. The remaining parts were promptly blasted away by Natsu's counterattack.
Unfortunately, mages were divided into high and low tiers, and Wally Buchanan was clearly a low-tier mage. Compared to Natsu and Gray, the gap in strength was simply too vast. His efforts failed to cause any real trouble for the duo.
On the other hand, after Erza saw Wally's pitiful state, she hurriedly swung her large sword to shatter the ice blocks, rescuing the frozen Wally.
"Erza... it's you."
Once the man realized the intruder was Erza, his eyes widened, and a look of pure rage flared up within them.
"You traitor! How dare you show your face back here!"
"I'm sorry, Wally. Things aren't what you think. I came back this time to save you."
"Do you really think I'd believe the words of a traitor?"
Seeing the hatred filling Wally's face, Erza knew that they had been thoroughly brainwashed by Jellal over all these years. At this very moment, he couldn't listen to any of her explanations.
If that was the case...
"I'm sorry. I'll explain everything to you later, Wally." After saying that, she struck her childhood friend without hesitation, knocking him unconscious.
At the exact same time, the two troublemakers, Gray and Natsu, ran into a slight bit of trouble themselves. They encountered two more of Erza's old companions.
Sho and Millianna.
As the two were pushing forward and defeating enemies, Millianna suddenly ambushed them from above.
"Take my Binding Magic!"
Two magic circles manifested from her hands, and rope-like tubes resembling cat tails shot out, lunging toward Natsu and Gray. Fortunately, the two reacted swiftly, leaping backward to dodge the restraint.
However, right at that moment, a smirk appeared on Millianna's face.
"You two fell right into our trap, nya!"
Natsu and Gray were startled simultaneously.
Right then, a blonde young man materialized behind them. He held two glowing magic cards in his hands, which emitted a blinding radiance.
"Get in there!"
The blonde youth instantly threw the cards, striking both Natsu and Gray at the same time. With a sharp swoosh, the two were sucked into the confines of the cards.
Erza, Lucy, Cana, and the rest arrived just in time to witness this scene.
Lucy couldn't help but sigh, "Those two idiots."
In her eyes, given Natsu and Gray's abilities, they shouldn't have been defeated so easily by these two. The main reason they got trapped wasn't a lack of strength, but rather their sheer carelessness in underestimating the enemy.
"I was wondering who the intruders were this time, but it turns out to be you, the traitor, Erza-neechan."
The blonde youth looked at Erza, his expression instantly turning dark and hostile. Even when he uttered "Erza-neechan" at the end, the words were forced out through gritted teeth.
"Sho."
Erza muttered his name, her voice remarkably calm. "Sho, it's not what you think. I didn't betray you. This is all Jellal's—"
"Shut up!"
Before Erza could finish her sentence, Sho cut her off fiercely. His face distorted with hatred as he yelled, "Things have already come to this point, Erza! Do you really think I would still believe a single word you say?"
"That's right, that's right!" Millianna walked up to stand beside Sho. "Things have already come to this point, we won't believe you ever again, nya!"
"Millianna..."
Seeing herself completely misunderstood to this extent by her own childhood friends, Erza's resentment toward Jellal grew even deeper.
"I will explain everything to you two later, Sho, Millianna."
"But for now, please release my comrades."
She forced herself to calm down, speaking with absolute seriousness.
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